Creating a Unified Set of Four Prints

Today’s Essential Question: How will you tie your favorite 4 prints together so they read as one unified artwork? (Remember, you will mount your favorite four prints onto one piece of poster board like my example on the bulletin board. You will want your 4 chosen prints to read as one unified artwork.)

Today we will:

• Finish our set of celebrity prints. Each print should contain a different color scheme. Aim for 10 prints total. This will give you the most options to pick from, ensuring that your set of four prints will display unity.

Remember, the design seeds website is a great resource for color schemes.

By the end of today’s class, make sure the following have been posted to your blog (anything you posted in a previous blog entry does not need to be reposted):

• The grayscale cutout image of your celebrity (I will print these and you will use them as a reference for your monochromatic painting)
  
• Every version of your celebrity that you have created. You will not like every image, and that is ok. The point of this project is to experiment with different color schemes that push the boundaries of our comfort zone.
• A separate blog post with
  • the four images that you plan to print and mount together. Here are some examples:
    

    Jordyn – 10th Grade

    

    Marina – 10th Grade

  • a written paragraph describing what you like about each image, as well as why the images work together as a unified set

Tomorrow we will:

• grid and transfer our monochromatic image onto our painting surface
• peer critique our set of four images, and make any suggested changes to make the set of images read as one unified artwork

Creating Multiple Prints with Different Color Schemes

Today’s Essential Question: How does a color scheme affect the mood of an artwork?

Click here for steps on how to add color to your celebrity portrait.

Remember, the design seeds website is a great resource for color schemes. I used several of their color schemes for my Drake prints:

  

  

Today we will:

• Continue making a variety of celebrity prints. Each print should contain a different color scheme.
• Create a new blog post with jpgs of any prints we created today.

Adding Color to Our Celebrity Portraits

Today we will finish smoothing out our celebrity portraits. You will show your finished design to Ms. Lawson, and once she approves it, you will post a JPG of your smoothed out portrait to our blogs.

Then you will begin adding color to your celebrity portrait, following the steps in this post. You will save each color scheme as a different file name. (ex. arianna_grande_blue, arianna_grande_purple_orange, etc).

The following people can begin adding color to their portraits: Caeline, Markese, Arianna. If you think you are done but your name is not in this list, ask Ms. Lawson what you need to touch up.

A Monochromatic Color Scheme is comprised of different tints and shades of one color.

Review complementary, analogous, and triadic color schemes with this blog post. The design seeds website is a great resource for color schemes. I used several of their color schemes for my Drake prints:      

How to Add Color to your Photoshop Portrait

1. Open Photoshop (Go to the windows icon at the bottom left of the screen -> All Programs -> Adobe Master Collection CS5 -> Adobe Photoshop).
2. Open the Photoshop file of your monochromatic celebrity portrait (File -> Open).
3. Convert the Image to CMYK. This will allow you to add color. (Image -> Mode -> CMYK). If will ask if you want to flatten the image by merging the layers. Say yes.
4. Open the image of the color scheme you want to use. Select the move tool.  Use it to drag your color scheme into your photoshop file. Double click on the layer with the color scheme, and name it “color scheme.”
5. Save a version of this file that recognizes that you can add color (File -> Save as -> filename_red_monochromatic.psd)
6. Select the eyedropper tool.  Use it to select your first color. (It is easiest to start with the darkest or lightest color, and get progressively darker or lighter.)
7. Click on the layer with your image.
8. Select the magic wand tool.  Use it to select your first color.
9. At the top of the screen, click Select -> Select Similar. This will select all the areas of that color.
10. Make a new layer.
11. Select the brush tool.  Make sure it is set to 100% hardness. Make the brush size huge by clicking holding down on the right bracket (}) key. Color over your entire image. Only the selected areas should change color.
12. Select -> Deselect
13. Repeat steps for your next color.
14. Repeat steps until you have added all the colors.
15. Save your photoshop file. File -> Save).
16. Save your file as a jpg file. File -> Save As -> filename_red_monochomatic.jpg (or some other name that identifies your color scheme).
17. Close your file.
18. Repeat these steps to create more prints in different color schemes.

Today we will:

• discuss the following color schemes (analogous, monochromatic, triadic, complementary, split complementary)
• demonstrate how to add color in photoshop and save different versions for each color scheme
• create several variations of our portrait using different color schemes
• create a new blog post with the following:
  • our black and white celebrity print
  • each digital version and the color scheme it was inspired by

Pop Art Celebrity Portraits

Today we are starting a new unit on Pop Art. You will create two projects (one painting and one set of Photoshop prints) featuring a celebrity of your choice.

Today’s essential question: What celebrity will you use for your portrait project? Why?

Project requirements:

• one black and white high contrast portrait with 4-6 shades
  
• a set of four coordinating Photoshop portraits of that celebrity featuring a range of different color schemes
  
• an 11×14 monochromatic acrylic portrait painting of that celebrity using 4-6 shades
  
• a 4-6 shade value scale (using the same paint colors you mixed for your monochromatic painting)

Today we will:

• Go to wordpress.com and set up a blog
• Email Ms. Lawson the link to your blog
• Download a high-res celebrity image to work with
• Crop the image so it is 11×14 inches
• Alter the image so it is a black and white image with 4-6 shades
• Create a new blog post with the following:
  • The original celebrity image
  • Your cropped, monochromatic high-contrast celebrity portrait
  • A paragraph describing why you picked the celebrity, and which colors you plan to you for each part of the project.

How to Create your cropped, monochromatic high-contrast celebrity portrait

1. Download your celebrity image
   1. Go to images.google.com and search for an image of your celebrity that is larger than 4MP
   2. Click on the image of your choice until you can view it full size. Then right click -> save image as and REMEMBER WHERE YOU SAVED THE IMAGE
2. Open your celebrity photo in Photoshop
   1. Open Photoshop (Click on the Windows icon at the bottom of the screen -> All Programs -> Adobe Master Collection CS3 -> Adobe Photoshop)
3. File -> Open (Select the image you downloaded. You will need to remember where you saved it!)
   
4. Turn the image black & white. (Image -> Mode -> Grayscale).
5. Crop your image.
   1. Select the crop tool. Set the crop tool to 11×14 inches. Click and drag the crop tool until the area you want to crop is selected.
   2. Hit enter to crop your image.
      
6. Intensify your shadows & highlights.
   1. Image -> Adjustments -> Levels
      
7. Simplify your image to 4-6 shades.
   1. Layer -> Duplicate Layer
   2. Filter -> Artistic -> Cutout
      
8. Touch up your image so it looks smooth and has a solid color background.
   1. Layer -> Duplicate Layer.
   2. Use the eyedropper tool to select a color, then use the brush tool (with hardness set to 100%) to color over the image and smooth out any awkward spot. The { key will make your brush smaller, and the } key will make your brush larger. You can use the magnifying glass to zoom in on the image.
      
9. Save your file as both a Photoshop (.psd) and a jpg (.jpg).
10. Upload your original image and your cutout image to your blog.

Project Requirements: Color Wheel Mandalas

This project will familiarize us with color mixing. For this project, you may choose create your own mandala or work with ONE partner. You may also create your own mandala, but share the paint you have mixed with the other students at your table. This will save both time and paint.

Sample Color Wheel Mandalas:

Mya – Grade 10

Ler – Grade 10

La’ja – Grade 10

Project Requirements:

• Color Wheel contains 6 different “pie slices” – one for each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet
• The “pie slices” should be arranged in rainbow order. For example, the green pie slice should be between the yellow and blue pie slices.
• Each “pie slice” should be divided into 4 sections. This sections will gradually get lighter or darker as you mix tints and shades of the selected color.
• One section of each “pie slice” should contain the original color. If it is very transparent, you can remedy this by mixing in a tiny bit of white (but not enough to make a true tint).
• Mandala shows good craftsmanship – paint is even and smooth. Points will be deducted both for transparent areas and for paint that has been painted on too thick.

Project Steps

1. Trace the circle template onto a sheet of tag board.
2. Paint the circle with gesso.
3. While you are waiting for the gesso to dry, design your pie slice. This design will repeat itself 6 times around the circle.
   Here is what my pie slice looked like:
   
4. Paint the circle with black paint. You may need two coats to cover it.
5. Use a blow dryer to dry your cardboard circle.
6. Color the back of the pie slice with chalk, and use the trace and transfer method to transfer the first section of the pie slice onto your circle template.
7. Continue tracing and transferring until the entire circle is filled in with designs.
8. Pick your first color. Mix 2 tints and one shade, and paint the mandala. (Except yellow – it is so light that you will mix one tint and 2 shades.)
9. Repeat step 5 for the remaining colors. Here is what my finished mandala looks like:
   

We will have 5 classes to work on this project. Use your time wisely – by the end of today’s class, you should have traced the circle template, designed your pie slice, and colored in the positive space with Sharpie. Depending on how quickly you work, you may start transferring your design onto the painted circle, but if you do not, you should be ready to do so at the start of tomorrow’s class.

Finishing our Silhouettes

Today we will finish our silhouettes. Here are some strong examples created by your classmates? How has each featured artist created unity in his or her piece?

Image Credit: Ally

Image Credit: Tina

Image Credit: Alexis

If you finish early, you can learn the basics of animation! Here are some animation tutorials I have created. Each tutorial builds off the skills taught in the previous one, so make sure you follow them in order. You can receive extra credit by uploading a SWF file of each completed animation to your school Google Drive account and sharing the file with me.

Today we will:

• Finish our Photoshop silhouettes
• Save our files as both .psd and .jpg
• Post a JPG of our final project to our blogs
• follow the animation tutorials to learn how to animate in Adobe Flash. Make sure you upload a SWF file of each finished animation to your school Google Drive account and share the file with Ms. Lawson

 

Using a mask to fill in our background with an image

Today we will use the mask tool to fill in our background with an image.

Today we will:

• learn how to use the mask tool to fill in our background with an image
• continue working on our projects
• save our projects as both as .psd and .png, and create a new blog post with the PNG of our progress

How to Use the Mask Tool

1. Open your project Photoshop file (the one that ends with .psd, NOT .png).
2. Open whatever image you would like to fill the negative space portion of your project.
3. Drag whatever image you would like to fill the negative space portion of your project into the project Photoshop file.
   
4. If it is the wrong orientation (such as my example where it is landscape instead of portrait), rotate the image.
   Edit -> Transform -> Rotate 90 CW (or CCW – your choice)
   
5. Scale it so it fills the screen (Edit -> Free Transform). Remember to hold down the shift key and scale from the corner so you do not distort the proportions of the image. Also, do not make an image much larger – it will pixelate and look blurry when printed.
   
6. In the layers palette on the bottom right side of the screen, click on the eye next to this layer to make it temporarily invisible.
   
7. Click on the layer titled “negative space.” It should turn blue to show it has been selected.
   
8. Your project should now look like this (you may have images inside your silhouette):
   
9. Select the magic wand tool form the toolbar on the left side of the screen.
10. Click on any part of the negative space layer that has been painted. It should now be outlined with dotted lines.
    
11. In the layers palette on the bottom right side of the screen, click on the eye next to this layer to make it invisible.
    Your project should now look like this:
    
12. Now click on the eye space next to the layer that contains the image you want to fill in your background. This will make the layer visible.
    
13. Click on the layer itself to select it. It should turn blue.
    
14. Click on the mask tool at the bottom of the layers palette.
15. This should hide everything but the background area:
    

Combining Multiple Images into One Photoshop File

Today we will:

• complete the kitten dress up tutorial
• begin dragging the images we downloaded that represent us into our silhouette file
• create a new blog post with the following:
  • completed kitten dress up tutorial
  • PNG of our silhouette progress

Kitten Dress Up Tutorial (teaches us how to combine multiple images into one Photoshop file, and how to use the transform tool to scale and rotate objects)

• Click here to view the step-by-step-instructions for the kitten dress up Photoshop tutorial. (If you do not have this file open and cannot tell me what step you need help with, I will not help you.)
• Click here to download the kitten dress up Photoshop file.
• Once you finish this tutorial, create a new blog post with a PNG of your fancy dressed up kitten.

Adding Images into your Silhouette

1. Open your silhouette PHOTOSHOP file (the one that ends in .psd). Your layers palette should look like this:
   
   (If you only have one layer named background, you have mistakenly opened the PNG file. If that is the case, close  that file and open the .psd file.)
2. Now open the first image you would like to drag into your silhouette in Photoshop. Go to the toolbar on the left side of the screen and select the move tool.
3. Now click on the image and “throw” it into your silhouette Photoshop file. Your layers palette should now look like this:
   
4. The image you just dragged should be below the negative space layer and on top of your silhouette layer. Eventually, it will look like the silhouette is filled with a collage of images:
   
5. Scale or rotate the image by going to the top of the screen and selecting “Edit -> free transform. Do not make the image larger, or it will pixelate like the example below:
   
6. Repeat steps until you have placed all your desired images into the silhouette photoshop file.
7. Select the eraser tool and erase the background from each image.  Make sure you are on the correct layer!
8. Save your photoshop file (File -> save) and then save a version as a PNG (File -> save as).
9. Create a new blog post with a png image of your progress. (You will not finish your project today, so I am looking for progress rather than perfection).

Creating Our Silhouettes

Today we will:

• Trace over the photos we took last class to create silhouettes of ourselves.
• Save our file as both a Photoshop (.psd) and .png.
• Create a new blog post with the png of our silhouette.
• Complete the kitten dress up tutorial and post the completed tutorial to the blog.

Follow these steps to create your silhouette:

Part 1: Saving and Opening the File in Photoshop

1. Log into your school Gmail account. (Username: student # @rcsd121.org; Password: same password you use to log into the school computers.)
2. Click on the squares in the top right corner of the screen and select Drive
   
3. Right click your profile photo and select “Download”
4. Open Photoshop.
5. Open your photo on Photoshop. (File -> Open).

Part 2: Painting your silhouette

1. Create a new layer by clicking on the new layer button at the bottom of the layers palette.
   It is located on the bottom right side on the screen.
   Name this layer “silhouette.” Make sure the silhouette layer is selected. You can tell it is selected if it is blue. Make sure you do this step, or you will paint over your face and forever alter your source photo!
   Your layers palette should now look like this:
   
2. Select the brush tool from the toolbar on the left of the screen. Go to the top of the screen.
   Change the hardness to 100% by dragging the slider all the way to the right.
   
3. Select a color to paint with by double-clicking on the color box on the bottom left side of the screen.
4. Select the magnifying glass from the tool bar and click on your image until you have zoomed in enough to be able to trace over your silhouette.
   If you accidentally zoom in too far, you can zoom back out by going to the menu at the top of the screen, and selecting (View -> Fit on screen).
5. Select the brush tool again. Begin tracing over your silhouette.
   Adjust the brush size as needed:
   Press the right bracket } key to make the brush larger
   Press the left bracket { key to make the brush smaller.
   Once your trace over your entire silhouette, your image should look like this:
   
6. Go to the menu at the top of the screen and press File -> Save to save your progress (or press control + S).

Part 3: Painting your background

1. When you are finished, click on the Background layer in your layer palette, then press the new layer button to create a new layer. Name this layer “negative space.” Make sure the “negative space” layer is selected. You can tell it is selected if it is blue. Make sure you do this step, or you will forever alter your source photo! Your layers palette should now look like this:
   
2. Select a color to paint with by double-clicking on the color box on the bottom left side of the screen. You should pick one that contrasts with your silhouette color.
3. Select the paint bucket tool from the  toolbar on the left side of the screen.
   Click anywhere on your image to paint the background.
   Your image should now look like this:
   
4. Go to the menu at the top of the screen and press File -> Save to save your progress (or press control + S).

Part 4: Cutting the silhouette out of the background

1. Click on the silhouette layer. Go to the menu at the top of the screen and select Layer -> Duplicate layer. Name this layer “silhouette copy.”
2. Click on the original silhouette layer in the layers palette so it turns blue.
   The layers palette should now look like this:
   
3. Go to the menu at the top of the screen and select Layer -> Merge down. This will merge one of the silhouette layers with your negative space layer. Click on this merged layer to select it. It should be blue.
   The layers palette should now look like this:
   
4. Click on the magic wand tool.
   It may be hidden under the quick selection tool. If that is the case, click and hold this quick selection tool until the magic wand tool appears, then select the magic wand tool.
   At the top of the screen, change the tolerance to 10.
   
5. Click the silhouette to select it. Then press control + x to remove the silhouette.
   It will not look like anything has happened. To test whether you have actually deleted the silhouette from the inside of the merged layer, go to the layers palette and click on the eye next to the silhouette layer. This will make the silhouette layer invisible, and you will be able to see what remains on the merged “negative space” layer:
   
   Your silhouette should be cut out of the background like this:
   
6. Go to the layers palette. Drag the “negative space layer” to the top of the screen, and click the eyeball next to the “silhouette copy” layer to make it visible again.
   Your layers palette should now look like this:
   

Part 5: Saving your file

1. Go to the menu at the top of the screen.
2. Select File -> Save to save your final Photoshop file (or press control + S).
3. Then select File -> Save as -> and save your file as a PNG.
4. Create a new blog post with the PNG of your silhouette.

Kitten Dress Up Tutorial (teaches us how to combine multiple images into one Photoshop file, and how to use the transform tool to scale and rotate objects)

• Click here to view the step-by-step-instructions for the kitten dress up Photoshop tutorial. (If you do not have this file open and cannot tell me what step you need help with, I will not help you.)
• Click here to download the kitten dress up Photoshop file.

Photoshop Mini Lessons

Today’s essential question: What are some advantages of computer art vs traditional art (drawing, painting, etc)? What are some disadvantages?

Today we will complete two tutorials. These tutorials will teach us how to remove the background from an image in Photoshop, how to combine multiple images into one Photoshop file, and how to use the transform tool to scale and rotate an object. We will complete both the veggie and kitten tutorials, save a Photoshop version of our file and a png of each tutorial to our username, and post the PNG to our blogs. You must post your work from today in order to receive participation points.

You will also have a classmate take a profile photo (photo of your face from a side angle) in the hallway.

Links to the resources we will use today:

Veggie Tutorial (teaches us how to use a variety of tools to remove the background from an image)

Veggie tutorial starter file

Completed veggie tutorial

• Click here to view the step-by-step instructions for the veggie Photoshop tutorial. (If you do not have this file open and cannot tell me what step you need help with, I will not help you.)
• Click here to download the veggie Photoshop file.

Kitten Dress Up Tutorial (teaches us how to combine multiple images into one Photoshop file, and how to use the transform tool to scale and rotate objects)

Completed kitten dress up tutorial

• Click here to view the step-by-step-instructions for the kitten dress up Photoshop tutorial. (If you do not have this file open and cannot tell me what step you need help with, I will not help you.)
• Click here to download the kitten dress up Photoshop file.

Today we will:

• Complete the veggie tutorial. Save your file to your username as both a photoshop (.psd) file and a .png file.
• Complete the kitten dress up tutorial. Save your file to your username as both a photoshop (.psd) file and a .png file.
• Create and publish a new blog post with the following:
  • a png of your completed veggie image
  • a png of your completed kitten dress up image
  • a paragraph describing how you create each image. Include any challenges you faced, and how you worked through those challenges.